Sheriff Harig makes lemonade out of jail
Published 8:25 am Monday, May 4, 2009
The agreement Freeborn County signed to house federal prisoners is of tremendous importance and an extraordinary boon to the county. This program will go on a long way to rectify the enormous blunder fostered on us by a questionable architect, ill-informed leadership, and a zealous vocal minority that pushed this 125-bed jail to be built. Who would believe they would triple the size of an adequate jail in a county with an aging population, in which for several decades the population numbers had been on a continued decline?
Since it opened, the inmate occupancy has continued about the same as it was in the old jail, but, because the state mandates staff according to number of beds, the county was forced to hire 11 more deputies. This albatross has been around the neck of Freeborn County creating a terrific drain on resources.
Commissioner Dan Belshan has visited other counties and been a strong advocate for leasing our beds to neighbors, warning other counties about Freeborn County’s mistake in overbuilding, and about 15 beds are leased to present. Sheriff Mark Harig has worked diligently to solve the problem, and now he has hit the jackpot for the county. After some initial startup cost to both the county and the feds, the net gain for the county will run into many thousands of dollars. Thank the sheriff and deputy Marcellino Pena for the great job done. The 80-bed lease to the federal government will be a great help to Freeborn County. Sheriff Harig accomplished the proverbial, “Out of a very sour lemon, he has made sweet lemonade.”
Warren Stowell
Albert Lea